Bernie Sanders and the 2016 Democratic Primary

Say it with me: Bernie Sanders will not be the Democratic nominee. I’m glad we got that very important point out of the way before someone jumped down my throat for not acknowledging the obvious.

The truth when it comes to my understanding of the situation is that it’s been over since Bernie failed to win Nevada. As results started piling in on that Saturday, I watched the returns and saw a small lead by Hillary Clinton that never evaporated. Bernie lost. I remember even looking back to my fiancé and saying “Well, that’s that.”

Now I’m no prognosticator but I stopped really caring who was going to win the Democratic nomination from that point forward. By god, it was going to be Hillary Clinton, the person I suspected was going to win it all along. I wasn’t super frustrated with the prospect at the time because I thought Hillary Clinton was an acceptable alternative. For the record, I still do. Everyone has different views on what a vote means and what it represents. I am of the philosophy that a vote is simply a vote for a person who closest represents your ideals. My vote is not to be taken as an endorsement of everything that person does but as a fair look at the platform they are running on.

If Hillary Clinton sticks to her proposals, which most presidents do, I can give her a vote. I reject the notion that she is a secret conservative, a secret Republican or that she’s not “liberal” enough. I think if we step into the idea of tests being the determining factor of who we vote for, I’d probably never vote. I reject all of that the same way I reject the Bernie Bro narrative the media unfortunately latched onto far more than it should.

With all of that said, I wanted Bernie Sanders to win the nomination because he is fighting for the issues I want in a much more direct way. I want a $15 minimum wage because I know what it’s like to make less than half of that. I want single payer healthcare because I’ve seen people live and die as a result of not having it. I want a better future for all of us, and I liked that Bernie proposed all of that and did better than anyone expected. I’d like to thank Bernie for bringing those issues into the national conversation, and I thank him for providing a path that leads to more progressive legislators, presidential candidates, and policies moving forward.